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15 July 2006
Sat, 15 Jul 2006 19:13:00 GMTAn anarchy is not the absence of government. It is the presence of a system which keeps the peace sufficiently well as to not allow any one entity to monopolize violence over entire regions (aka form a government).
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25 June 2006
Sun, 25 Jun 2006 10:23:05 GMTThe people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything.
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16 May 2006
Tue, 16 May 2006 20:14:00 GMT Spinning the tiresvia Kjell Olsen2198 days agoSources within the gov’t leak to reporters that the gov’t is breaking the law. The gov’t is mad. The gov’t claims not to be breaking the law. The gov’t refuses to allow any investigation of said law-breaking. The gov’t breaks the same law in the same way to discover which of it’s members originally leaked that the gov’t was breaking the law.
More sources leak to more reporters that the gov’t is more and more egregiously breaking the law, fostering more and more illegal activity, and thusly more egregious leaking of it’s illegal activities. Is anybody else’s head spinning yet? FBI Acknowledges: Journalists’ Phone Records are Fair Game
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23 April 2006
Sun, 23 Apr 2006 19:10:00 GMT Bush Impeachmentvia Kjell Olsen2221 days agoSomebody found a trick in the House rules that will let a state legislature introduce presidential impeachment proceedings. And Illinois is going for it.
Should HJR0125 be passed by the Illinois General Assembly, the US House will be forced by House Rules to take up the issue of impeachment as a privileged bill, meaning it will take precedence over other House business.
Sounds like fun. (California and Maine look to jump on the bandwagon.)
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Sun, 23 Apr 2006 18:07:00 GMT
Politics is the art of preventing people from taking part in the affairs which properly concern them.
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18 April 2006
Tue, 18 Apr 2006 20:43:00 GMT The Hijacking of Realityvia Kjell Olsen2226 days agoDisneyland is as fun as Des Moines is dull, just as Michael Jordan is as rich as a Nike sweatshop worker is poor
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15 March 2006
Wed, 15 Mar 2006 16:58:00 GMTHow bad are the politics of the day?
I’m not sure how, but I’ve ended up subscribed to the RNC mailing list under the name of my father. I get their emails, glance at the headlines, and throw them out mostly. (If you didn’t know already, I think anyone who follows bush should be immediately thrown out of the country having had their left ear cut off.) It’s nice to at least have an idea how ridiculous these people are.
So I also managed to sign up (or get spammed by) for a few democratic newsletters. The two letters are included after me ranting in case you’d want to read them. Here I go.
Ugh. So there are two political parties within these United States, the only way either party is willing to to acknowledge the existence of the other is with a quick and shallow denouncing.
Dean raises some valid points, at least peppering his attack with facts. Mehlman doesn’t make one objective statement in his entire letter. It amounts to nothing more then DEMOCRATS WANT AMERICA DEAD, which I’m hoping isn’t true. Dean’s isn’t much better, coming to REBUBLICANS ARE LIARS.
I’m going to overlook the fact that indeed, republicans are liars, for a minute here. As bad as the exchange between parties is, I don’t see why the democrats are so handily losing. I do hope that things turn around in the upcoming elections, I’m quite embarrassed they’ve deteriorated so far and so fast. I can’t heartily support either party – but there are more individual democrats out there I agree with than republicans.
American politics are a complete joke. Shouldn’t the debate surrounding the activities and policies of our nation be more then shouting? Could the american people even handle anything more then almost incoherent babble and sniping between members of either party? Because the debate isn’t more then hollering across the aisle, and the american people don’t seem to be doing anything about it.
I don’t know all that much about politics. I’ve taken the standard politics courses, but all my actual experience in worldly politics has come in the current era. The bush era. This can’t be how to govern a nation. I’m actually young enough to have not yet paid taxes; I can’t be sure I ever will, with politics as they are now. This isn’t worth my money, and I don’t want to have anything to do with it.
The American government has held up quite well to this point. 200+ years of steady rule, very little national controversy. I can’t speak for the years before me, but I’d like to know if it’s always been this bad. Maybe I’m just completely unreasonable and should settle down. Self doubt works well to keep me humble. But my illusion is that things have fallen into a shithole lately. I’d be surprised if America could last this long in her current state.
All I want to know, is do we have to stand for this? I live my life, fairly normally, and for the most part nothing the government does affects me beyond idea. Taxes will be paid, their being high or low may give or take a bit of money from me, but nothing more. I’ve never been to Iraq, nor do I have expedient plans to go there. So why should I be concerned over their being ravaged and terrorized by my government?
For whatever reason I am concerned. I’m not doing much to change the course of politics, but I’m thinking a lot about it. I came across Death to Government by Karl Hess a week or two ago searching for “giving up government.” I think I’d be ready to throw everyone out of washington in the interest of reform.
I can’t say with any certainty that I’ve ever admired a politician outside of Paul Wellstone. The libertarian idea, “how do you dismantle government from within government,” hits hard. It sucks that you have to first submit to the degenerating political system before you can do anything to change it.
Or the hacker spirit:
To protest, you have to take the present, and construct a new present with the tools provided, and put it in-front of the people. And you have to win, because the modern world, as Marx understood, is popular. You have to win by marketing. Matt Webb
So that was a lot more ranting then I intended and it lacked any real end, but it gave me lots to think about. Don’t expect much from me, how about.
The letters
‘Russ Fiengold is a traitor’
That’s what Republicans want you to think.
They are so scared of having a legitimate debate about Iraq or national security that they have only one reaction to news of their failures or calls for accountability.
On Monday, Democratic Senator Russ Feingold introduced legislation to censure the President for breaking the law by creating a secret domestic spying program. Agree or disagree with his proposal, as a Senator—and as an American—he has the right to speak his mind and express his views without Republican Senators questioning his patriotism.
But that’s exactly what happened. This week Republican Senator Wayne Allard of Colorado, in an interview with Fox News radio, said in response to Feingold’s action that he has “time and time again [sided] with the terrorists”.
Send a message to Senator Allard: shame on him for questioning the patriotism of another Senator. Sign this petition and it will be delivered to Allard:
http://www.democrats.org/stopattackingruss
Agree or disagree with Russ Feingold’s censure resolution, it is completely out of bounds to suggest that anyone demanding accountability is siding with terrorists. It is simply un-American to question the patriotism and loyalty of a Senator who wants the Congress to live up to its responsibility.
We’ve heard this cowardly nonsense from Republican leaders before. They attacked decorated Veteran and Democratic Rep. Jack Murtha for getting real on Iraq. They attacked Democratic Leader Harry Reid for shutting down the Senate to demand answers about manipulated pre-war intelligence.
They have ended the careers of generals who questioned Bush Administration talking points, and they even attack their own when respectable Republicans speak out on the disaster this administration has created in Iraq and its failure to close the gaps in our security here at home.
And time and again, the Republican controlled congress has consistently failed to conduct real oversight of the Administration, choosing instead to protect the Administration.
But polls show that nearly 70% of Americans reject this president and the Republican Congress that has failed to hold him accountable. And together we will hold Republicans accountable at the ballot box this year.
That’s why the Democratic Party is putting the infrastructure on the ground now to fight in all 50 states. People everywhere are saying “enough is enough”—and we will be ready to organize and fight everywhere with your help.
Please contribute whatever you can to make it happen:
http://www.democrats.org/accountability
The sick behavior of desperate Republicans will only stop when we fight back, and 2006 is the time to do it.
Thank you,
Governor Howard Dean, M.D.
Their Real Agenda
This week, liberal Democrat Russ Feingold called on the Senate to censure the President for a program that is successfully stopping terrorists. After months of searching, Democrat leaders are finally beginning to find their agenda: take away the tools America needs to fight terror. In the last 24 hours, fringe groups like MoveOn.org and Democrat leaders from John Kerry to Harry Reid to Dick Durbin have rallied to Feingold’s side, praising his grandstanding as a “catalyst” for the investigation of the President.
Weakening our national security is their agenda. Is it yours? Sign the petition to tell the Democrat leaders to stop undermining the War on Terror with cheap political stunts.
We are a nation at war. Our President has no more basic responsibility than to protect the American people and fight terrorists who want to kill us. It’s one thing if a lone Senator wants our government to look the other way when an Al Qaeda terrorist contacts a sleeper cell inside the United States. It’s entirely another when Democrat minority leader Harry Reid commends Feingold’s censure move for “bringing [the terrorist surveillance program] to the attention of the American people.”
Democrat leaders never miss an opportunity to put politics before our nation’s security. And now, they would rather censure the President for doing his job than actually fight the War on Terror. It’s what the MoveOn.org wing of their party wants, and now, it’s their agenda – from the top of the ticket on down.
Make your voice heard. Tell Democrat leaders to stop playing politics with national security.
Sincerely,
Ken Mehlman,
Chairman, Republican National Committee
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04 January 2006
Wed, 04 Jan 2006 10:42:33 GMT US government warns it's running out of cashvia Kjell Olsen2331 days agoAt that time, unless the debt limit is raised or the Treasury Department takes authorized extraordinary actions, we will be unable to continue to finance government operations. John Snow, US Treasury Secretary
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27 December 2005
Tue, 27 Dec 2005 17:41:00 GMT1984
George Orwell
First book I’ve ever ‘read’ as an audiobook. I don’t know if I liked it. Digressing for a moment from the actual book, it seemed that listening on my iPod (with audiobooks set to faster) took a phenomenally long time, the book clocked in at just under 10 hours. I usually read quick, and the audio can’t go as fast as my eyes without being incomprehensible.
I also usually like to make notes in the margin of pages, fold the corners of pages down to mark off stuff that merits a second look after I get all done with the book, which doesn’t work well with a recording.
But back to the book itself, I’d never read 1984. Animal farm, by Orwell, was covered in two of my classes at some point along in school, and both times I read it I made note to find a copy of 1984, but just never got around to it.
The whole NSA spying thing and all the Orwellian accusations being thrown around the political arena lately finally convinced me, and I’m glad society has yet to come to Orwell’s visions.
The scariest part for me wasn’t the civilian surveillance, but the government control of history. Control of the present is the equivalent to control of the past, also equivalent to power.
Somewhere in part three, where O’Brien digresses from torturing Winston long enough to explain what the aims of the Party were – power over everything.
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—for ever.
Their ability to always be right, and be able to dupe the population of Oceania into believing their correctness, gives the government an air of beneficent fairness. They’re doing society such a favor, always winning the war, always improving production.
Their ability to detain and torture whomever they wish at the aptly named Ministry of Love cements that illusion of societal unity – anyone not with the party is dead, but not until their subjugation and capitulation to the party ideals (2+2 always will equal 5).
In the excerpts Winston managed to read from Goldstein’s the book, clearly the entire populated world of 1984 is a complete sham, three societies constructed to do nothing but alternately fight each other, with all individual thought stifled entirely, just to serve the upper members of the inner parties desire for power.
The whole domination of information by the party is disturbing because it’s happening now. The evolution of neocon justification for war with Iraq could have come straight from an office in the Ministry of Truth. Although it is still archived in its original form and retrievable, neither the media nor political leaders are doing anything about the lies, only echoing party lines.
The rats are funny in that they really epitomize the whole society that Winston is so sublimely against. Peoples lives are led for them through the telescreen. They’re awakened, exercised, and indoctrinated – not to mention monitored.
Big Brother has created complete control over all of them, to the point they’re leading their lives through a dilapidated and grungy London without being the slightest bit human.
Newspeak is a fun idea – the language that completely eliminates the human capacity of thought. By compressing usable vocabulary to it’s most basic and then building upon it with simple modifiers humans lose the ability to reason beyond what the state sponsored dictionary will allow them.
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24 December 2005
Sat, 24 Dec 2005 09:49:56 GMT Information Awareness Officevia Kjell Olsen2342 days agoThe government is running this office, with this in mind:
The IAO has the stated mission to gather as much information as possible about everyone, in a centralized location, for easy perusal by the United States government, including (though not limited to) Internet activity, credit card purchase histories, airline ticket purchases, car rentals, medical records, educational transcripts, driver’s licenses, utility bills, tax returns, and any other available data. In essence, the IAO
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19 December 2005
Mon, 19 Dec 2005 11:28:00 GMT Presidential Pipeline: Bush's top fund-raisers see spoils of victoryvia Kjell Olsen2346 days agoThose (548) who paid more then $100,000 to Bush’s reelection fund dictate his presidency. Doesn’t quite sound representative to me.
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10 December 2005
Sat, 10 Dec 2005 14:34:00 GMTI do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
Bush having supposedly expressed his unhappiness with the constitution, here’s the oath he swore upon inauguration.
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18 November 2005
Fri, 18 Nov 2005 12:18:00 GMT oligarchyvia Kjell Olsen2377 days agoOligarchy (
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04 November 2005
Fri, 04 Nov 2005 16:22:26 GMT GOP blocks inquiry into Bush's handling of war / Pelosi, Dems lose appeal vote after out-of-order rulingvia Kjell Olsen2391 days agoFuckers.
I think it brings shame to this House to be engaged in a coverup when it comes to revealing what’s happening in Iraq. Nancy Pelosi
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27 October 2005
Thu, 27 Oct 2005 15:42:00 GMT Government Keystroke Loggers in Laptop Computers!via Kjell Olsen2399 days agoThis is stepping a bit over the line. Where have all the civil liberties gone?hoax!Computer manufacturers appear to be cooperating with the Department of Homeland Security to make every person who buys a new computer subject to immediate, unrestricted government recording of everything they do on those computers!
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22 October 2005
Sat, 22 Oct 2005 08:57:21 GMT The National Parks Under Siegevia Kjell Olsen2405 days agoThis new policy document … would eliminate the requirement that only motorized equipment with the least impact should be used in national parks. It would lower air-quality standards and strip away language about preserving the parks’ natural soundscape – language that currently makes it hard, for instance, to justify allowing snowmobiles into Yellowstone. It would also refer park superintendents to other management documents that have been revised to weaken fundamental standards and protections for the parks.
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26 September 2005
Mon, 26 Sep 2005 19:51:56 GMT interdictor: Please Don't Tell Me That FEMA Pays $500 Per Hammer!Kjell Olsen2430 days agoOur government is completely and utterly retarded.
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20 April 2005
Wed, 20 Apr 2005 17:00:30 GMT Is Low-Cost Wi-Fi Un-American? -- In These Timesvia Kjell Olsen2589 days agoJust as the notion of affordable broadband for all was beginning to take hold in towns and cities across the country, the patriots at Verizon, Qwest, Comcast, Bell South and SBC Communications have created legislation that will stop the creeping socialism of broadband community Internet before it invades our homes.
Meanwhile, the United States has slid from first to 13th place in national broadband penetration, falling behind South Korea, Japan and Canada, where effective private-public sector initiatives have paved over the digital divide, allowing more citizens to reap the economic benefits of the open information era at a fraction of the costs we take for granted.
It was at this point that the incumbent ISPs began to show their horns. The ISPs are loath to loosen their stranglehold on a market that, according to the Telecommunications Industry Association, could yield $212.5 billion in revenues by 2008.
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26 March 2005
Sat, 26 Mar 2005 09:59:27 GMT The Daily Whim: Republican De-Evolutionvia Kjell Olsen2615 days agoAnd all of this has shown the fractures within the Republican party (with more to come), fractures that have been held together by having a two term President and control of both houses of Congress for the first time in, I don’t know, forever. I think it was the goal that kept them together. Now, they’re a bit like the dog who’s chased cars his whole life, and now has finally caught one. What exactly are you going to do with it? And in 2008, with no “heir apparent” to Bush, I think we’ll see all these fractures erupt. Viciously.
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20 January 2005
Thu, 20 Jan 2005 22:42:54 GMT dangerousmeta! » On this inauguration day,via Kjell Olsen2679 days agoExcellent quotes, telling Bush off in the worlds of famous politicians and people.
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Also somewhat recently
